Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury triggered a controversy on Monday with his “Naali” (drain) remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha, with the BJP hitting him back and his party, saying this “arrogance” will finish them.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, however, later clarified that his intention was not to insult the Prime Minister and he regrets if Modi was hurt by his comment.
Ganga and Ganda Naali: Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on the motion of thanks,
Chowdhury said, “Ganga and Ganda Naali (dirty drainage) can’t be compared” to which ruling party members objected and demanded that the words be expunged. The chair calmed down the agitating ruling party members saying if any unparliamentary word was used by Chowdhury it would be expunged from the record.
Later he apologized to Narendra Modi after he called him ‘Naali’ (drain) and clarified that his intention was not to insult the Prime Minister. “It is a misunderstanding. I didn’t say ‘naali’. If Prime Minister Modi is upset with it, then I’m sorry. I had no intention to hurt him. If the Prime Minister is hurt I will personally apologize to him. My Hindi is not good, by ‘naali’ I meant channel,” Chowdhury told media persons.
Furthermore, he added, “In order to establish my argument, I said you are comparing Ganga and ‘Naali.’ I did not have any kind of remotest intention to dishonor, disrespect and humiliate my Prime Minister. I don’t speak Hindi. So, maybe it could have been misinterpreted, People of Bengal have an emotional attachment with Swami Vivekananda,”
